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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803422">It Could Have Been You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliceisoverit/pseuds/Aliceisoverit'>Aliceisoverit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Duskwood (Everbyte Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Feels, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, One Shot, episode 7 spoilers, feelings are hard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:48:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliceisoverit/pseuds/Aliceisoverit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>MC (Nadia) and Jake have a conversation after the ending of Episode 7 and it leads to feelings.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>MC doesn't listen to Jake and does what she wants.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jake/MC, Jake/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It Could Have Been You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi darlings, I got the itch for a bit of Jake angst over the last few days so here it is this little OS. Kindly inspired by a song that stuck in my head while writing, Muddy Waters by LP.<br/>Hope you like it! SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 7 ENDING; BE AWARE.</p>
<p>Tw: swearing, mention of blood</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nadia was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching her closet intently like she was trying to find an answer to the incredible mess that her life had become over the last month. The doors were hanging open, patiently waiting for the girl to start gathering the clothes she needed for the trip to Duskwood.</p>
<p>She felt like her head was on the verge of exploding. Rabid thoughts were chasing each others around unbounded, hammering against her temples and begging to set them free.</p>
<p>She squeezed her hands together, quivering nervously while trying to release that ugly tension off her body. Seeing Richy bloody, slowing fading away on that hellish forest’s ground was the last straw for Nadia: someone got severely hurt and, all of a sudden, the game her and Jake were playing got extremely real.</p>
<p>Nadia couldn’t afford anymore to wait on the sidelines, protected by the distance and her hacker because sooner or later, they would come knocking on her doors. Although the strong gut feeling of running far away in the opposite direction, Nadia couldn’t deny the inescapable bond that was calling her to Duskwood. Even more now that both the girl and Jake may had the blood of an innocent guy dripping from their hands.</p>
<p>The young woman closed her eyes against that cruel image, breathing slowly from her nose, flexing her fingers.</p>
<p>Richy was going to make it;<em> he had to.</em></p>
<p>He might survive. Those were the feeble words of hope that the doctors had said and the whole group hold on to them with ferocity: the idea of losing Richy was unacceptable.</p>
<p>A notification from the phone distracted the young woman, making her wince: she couldn’t recall how long she had been standing still in front of the wardrobe.</p>
<p>
  <em>Nadia…I just read your texts. Is it true? Is Richy…?</em>
</p>
<p>The girl let an unsteady breath slip out between her lips, fighting back the tears.</p>
<p>
  <em>Yes Jake, he’s fighting for his life on an operating table.</em>
</p>
<p>She got up from her bed, walking aimlessly around the small apartment in an agitated frenzy. Jake’s answer came right away.</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m so, so sorry. I…I wasn’t expecting that. I…I’m at loss for words.</em>
</p>
<p>“No shit” Nadia snorted viciously under her breath, wiping away a traitorous tear that slowly crept down her cheek. Her breath was now ragged, but she still tried to keep her cool and not hyperventilate. Panic wouldn’t get her nowhere, she needed to be sharp right now.</p>
<p>Holding her phone in a tight grip, Nadia walked back to her bedroom; mind settled.</p>
<p>
  <em>I don’t know what to say too, Jake, but I know what I have to do.</em>
</p>
<p>She threw the mobile on her bed with more vehemence than what was necessary. With few, swift strides, she found herself back in her room, standing in front of her closet to retrieve an old backpack from the tallest shelf. She scrutinized the clothes with a clinic eyes, opting for something practical, taking only the bare minimum she needed for a week or so.</p>
<p>Nadia didn’t bother to check her phone when Jake’s first reply came. Nor the next one or the other after that.</p>
<p>She was on autopilot, a ghost wandering around and haunting her own house.</p>
<p>Nadia spared a look at her reflection in the mirror while collecting the stuff she needed from the bathroom: her face was strained with harsh lines, eyes wide with messy makeup and even messier hair.</p>
<p>She brought her things to the other room, dumping them merciless inside the backpack and only then looked at her phone.</p>
<p>There were several messages from Jake but it was the last one that caught the girl’s attention.</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you packing, Nadia? Please, answer me.</em>
</p>
<p>The phone slipped from her fingers after reading that words. A hint of paranoia emerged in her chest and she scanned her bedroom with meticulous care, calming down again only when she had checked twice every possible hiding place. No one seemed to be lurking in her room and the curtains were closed shut, a few sun shines peeking through them. She was still safe, it was still her home, no danger lurking in the shadows.</p>
<p>With trembling hands, Nadia retrieved the phone from the carpet.</p>
<p>She frowned, slightly afraid to look at the camera, before a wave of scolding hot anger filled her bones. Mouth set in a straight, harsh line, she started typing to Jake.</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you fucking spying on me through my phone, Jake? </em>
</p>
<p>No answer. The girl felt like boiling with everything she’d been trying to repress since the first time Thomas texted her.</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you fucking serious, Jake? Are you fucking with me or have you lost your mind along the way? Do you think that you can just go around spying people through their phone whenever it sooths you, whenever it’s convenient for your agenda?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jake. I fucking trusted you! YOU…</em>
</p>
<p>The girl stopped there, unable to type anymore given the trembling that took control of her hands.</p>
<p>Nadia brought the back of her hand against her lips, suppressing a sob that would inevitably destroy the already fragile dam that was barely holding back all of her destructive emotions.</p>
<p>She fought it with all of her might, eventually falling on her knees because even standing felt crushing in that moment.</p>
<p>Nadia felt like she was going crazy, slowly loosing herself in something that was so much bigger than her.</p>
<p>Her phone started vibrating in her hand, signalling an incoming call from an unknown number.</p>
<p>Nadia stood there for a moment, debating if accepting the call or not. Could it be…?</p>
<p>“Hello?” she answered with a shaky voice.</p>
<p>Nadia heard a sight and a male voice greeted her, no distortion this time.</p>
<p>“Please, don’t go” pleaded who she assumed was Jake on the other side of the line.</p>
<p>Nadia let out a wet sob, almost chocking on the longing and sadness that built up in her chest at hearing Jake’s voice for the first time. His voice sounded so warm and comforting like a soothing balm, but it was all ruined by the ill-timing of the call.</p>
<p>“How much have I longed for this moment… you have no idea, Jake, you have no idea. I can’t believe it, it’s actually you” she mumbled under her breath, almost too quiet to be heard.</p>
<p>Another sight greeted her words, but Jake didn’t say anything.</p>
<p>“I would have loved to hear your voice for the first time under different circumstances” she continued, tears rolling freely down her grieving face.</p>
<p>“But the situation is pretty fucked up, Jake. I can’t afford to wait on the side-lines any longer”</p>
<p>“You can’t go, <em>Nadia,</em> <em>please</em>. You can’t really be thinking of going to Duskwood” replied Jake fast, almost eating up the words like he was in a hurry to get them out, to keep her safely where she was.</p>
<p>“But I am going, Jake. It was all my fault: Jessy’s attack, Cleo’s letters and now Richy… if I didn’t get involved, if I stayed out of it, nothing would have happened to them. It’s only fair I stand by their side to help them, <em>actually help them</em>” Nadia said with deep-rooted sadness in her voice, slowly getting up from the carpet. Her knees felt weak but her mind was strong.</p>
<p>There was a loud thud on the other side of the line, like a fist being slammed against a wooden table.</p>
<p>“No, no, no! <em>Nadia, please!</em> Duskwood is even more dangerous than before right now and you could put yourself into bigger troubles!”</p>
<p>She snorted without humour in her voice, now fully standing, sliding a hand through her hair.</p>
<p>“Well Jake, it’s not like you can stop me, can you? Because you’re not here… You’re not fucking here with me. What would you have me rather do, uh? Don’t you think I’m scared!? I’M TERRIFIED BUT WHY DON’T YOU…”</p>
<p>“IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU, DAMMIT!” Jake almost screamed into her ear, panting like he had just ran a marathon.</p>
<p>Nadia closed her eyes while more tears carved their path through her reddened cheeks, biting hard on her lower lip. Her heart clenched painfully at his words cause only now she realized how much she’d been craving to feel his barriers coming down.</p>
<p>“It could have been you, bleeding out in that nightmarish forest, for fuck’s sake. And only the thought of you being hurt or worse, of losing you…it’s enough to drive me insane” he confessed softly, his silky voice like sweet honey in the Nadia’s ear, a tempting offer of haven.</p>
<p>“But it wasn’t me” she replied hesitantly, not trusting her voice not to break “it still could have been Lilly. It could have been <em>Hannah</em>”</p>
<p>That was a low blow, Nadia knew that but his sisters were the only family he had left and if he couldn’t be on the front line to save them, she would step up to be in his place and protect them.</p>
<p>“I don’t wanna lose you, not you too” Jake whispered, voice heavy with despair, so close to the mic that for a moment she had the faint illusion of having him right by her side.</p>
<p>“And you won’t, Jake, I promise you. You won’t lose any of us, we will see each other at the end of this. We’ll all be together and make up for all the time we spent apart.”</p>
<p>She almost smiled at that idyllic picture taking shape into her mind.</p>
<p>“But I have to go” Nadia simply stated, softly as to not hurt him, even though she was already doing that.</p>
<p>She closed the call before she lost all of the courage she had mustered up, Jake’s no’s haunting her while she turned off her phone. She exhaled deeply, before hitting her wardrobe’s door with her open palm, muffling a scream against her folded t-shirts.</p>
<p>It took Nadia five whole minutes to regain her composure and fight back fat tears of sorrow, but when she finally looked back up, there were flames in her eyes.</p>
<p>She set her body into motion, retrieving an object from the drawer under her desk: the older phone used to be her main phone, but Nadia was sure she was going to need a backup since everyone in Duskwood already had her info. No one knew her new number though, so she hoped it could turn out to be a secret advantage. Only Lilly was aware of it, she was the one to help her out to settle everything and she was the only soul that knew she was coming to Duskwood and they both preferred that way.</p>
<p>She braced herself, backpack on her shoulder and keys in her hands: even though she was filled with much uncertainty, Nadia knew she was on the right path.</p>
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